Initially, President Trump focused on dismantling Mexico's drug cartels. However, his recent focus has shifted to targeted musicians who create music about them.
Rewritten Article:
On a Saturday night in the heart of Atlanta, a band named Orden Activa gets ready to perform a Mexican tune at a rooftop bar. As the first chords strike, the audience - initially seemingly shy - springs to its feet and starts singing in Spanish, the dance floor transforming into a sea of cowboy hats.
"I'm the ruler of this roostersFrom the Jalisco cartel.My crew's got some fighting cocksFor our duels in the wild."
As the crowd sways, it appears there's nothing suspicious - nothing that screams controversy.
But last month, a similar performance by another band landed them in hot water with both US and Mexican authorities, leading to an unparalleled move: a barring from the United States. Critics argue this raises fundamental questions about free speech in America.
Their transgression? "Glorifying a drug kingpin."
The song from this incident? A narcocorrido - a ballad about the drug trafficking underworld. The unlucky band, Los Alegres del Barranco, had recently performed it in Zapopan, Mexico, depicting the exploits of El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and evenshowing a cartoon portrait of him.
As a result of their performance, the band faced not only the cancellation of their planned US tour but also a criminal investigation on their home turf. The venue where the show took place apologized, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned them they might have broken the law, and the US State Department revoked their visas.
American Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau explained it bluntly: "There's no place for people who justify criminals and terrorists in our country."
While songs about the drug trade have been censored in Mexico for years, some feel there's a new wave of bans on public performances due to increasing pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on cartels. More concerning, experts say, are signs that Mexican bands are self-censoring out of fear of upsetting US authorities, potentially compromising their ability to tour.
Circle of Fire narcocorrido singer , an English-language guide to the genre, says this is the first time the State Department has taken such action against a Mexican band. Some view it as the latest move in a series of anti-Mexico measures by the Trump administration, already strained by its immigration crackdowns and tariff policies.
While the State Department declined to comment on the case, Los Alegres del Barranco's popularity post-incident suggests their move might have gotten them more attention than they bargained for. Streaming figures indicate the band gained over 2 million new listeners in the wake of the controversy, demonstrating the current appeal of a genre rooted in 19th-century folk music.
Early corridos, or ballads, celebrated outlaws, generals, and sometimes unusual animals like fighting roosters[1]. During Prohibition in the 1920s, a new subgenre - the narcocorrido - emerged, documenting those smuggling illicit alcohol from Mexico to the United States[2].
A century later and that subgenre is still booming. The most popular musical artist on US YouTube in 2023 was not Taylor Swift but narcocorrido singer Peso Pluma[3].
But experts say a cultural shift took place when drug traffickers began paying musicians to write songs about themselves in the mid-1980s when the "King of Corridos," Chalino Sanchez, began accepting commissions[2]. This significant change in the economics of the business meant anyone with money could commission a laudatory corrido. Since then, many singers and groups have been associated with specific cartels, potentially putting them in danger.
Chalino Sanchez himself was fatally shot after a concert in Sinaloa in 1992[2]. Some fans, like writer Sam Quinones - who is penning a biography of Sanchez - criticize this shift as the corruption of the corrido, turning it from a music about the simple man standing against power to one praising bloodthirsty criminals with enormous power[2].
However, others dismiss concerns that narcocorridos promote violence, likening them to gangster-rap, video games, or films like The Godfather[6].
Ray Mancias, a 19-year-old guitarist who performed after Orden Activa in Atlanta, explains, "Parents shouldn't blame music for shaping their child's character. It's the way they raise them that matters."
One of Orden Activa's singers, Noel Flores, suggests that authorities who try to ban narcocorridos risk fueling their popularity instead: "That's just gonna make people want it more."
- The Mexican band Orden Activa performed a Mexican tune at a rooftop bar in Atlanta, transforming the dance floor into a sea of cowboy hats.
- Critics argue the ban on a similar band last month raises fundamental questions about free speech in America, due to their performance of a narcocorrido glorifying a drug kingpin.
- The unlucky band, Los Alegres del Barranco, had depicted the exploits of El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
- The American Deputy Secretary of State explained there's no place for people who justify criminals and terrorists in their country.
- Some view the barring of Los Alegres del Barranco as the latest move in a series of anti-Mexico measures by the Trump administration.
- Streaming figures indicate the band gained over 2 million new listeners in the wake of the controversy.
- Early corridos celebrated outlaws, generals, and unusual animals like fighting roosters, while a new subgenre - the narcocorrido - emerged during Prohibition, documenting those smuggling illicit alcohol.
- The most popular musical artist on US YouTube in 2023 was narcocorrido singer Peso Pluma.
- Experts say a cultural shift took place when drug traffickers began paying musicians to write songs about themselves in the mid-1980s.
- Chalino Sanchez, the "King of Corridos," began accepting commissions, leading many singers and groups to be associated with specific cartels.
- However, others dismiss concerns that narcocorridos promote violence, likening them to gangster-rap, video games, or films like The Godfather.
- Ray Mancias, a 19-year-old guitarist, believes parents should focus on raising their children, not blaming music for shaping their character.
- Noel Flores of Orden Activa suggests that authorities trying to ban narcocorridos risk fueling their popularity instead.
- People may want narcocorridos more due to attempts to ban them, as suggested by Flores' statement.
- The popularity of narcocorridos can be demonstrated by the rise of Peso Pluma on US YouTube in 2023, as well as the controversy surrounding Los Alegres del Barranco.
